Browsed by
Category: Future Treasures

Future Treasures: The Big Book of Cyberpunk edited by Jared Shurin

Future Treasures: The Big Book of Cyberpunk edited by Jared Shurin

Comments 10 comments

The Big Book of Cyberpunk (Vintage, September 26, 2023). Cover by Ociacia

While you and I have been spending our time talking about old paperbacks, Jared Shurin has been toiling away, making a rep for himself as an anthologist. The two volumes of original fantasy he assembled with Mahvesh Murad, The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories and The Outcast Hours, were both nominated for the World Fantasy Award, and his most recent books are two volumes of The Best of British Fantasy from NewCon Press.

His latest effort, on sale next week from Vintage Books, is an entirely different beast. The Big Book of Cyberpunk is a feast of a book, 1136 pages of fiction from the biggest names in science fiction. It belongs on your shelf next to the most monumental and groundbreaking anthologies of the last few years, including Jeff and Ann Vandermeer’s Big Book of Science Fiction, The Weird, and Lawrence Ellsworth’s Big Book of Swashbuckling Adventure.

I was very pleased to see The Big Book of Cyberpunk is also the first appearance in print of Isabel Fall’s famous Hugo nominee “Helicopter Story” (2020), originally published in Clarkesworld under the title, “I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter,” until that title generated such a furor of rage and resentment that the story was withdrawn after three days and the author entered a psychiatric hospital. Hopefully this will give that story more much-deserved exposure.

…

Read More Read More

Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora

Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora

Comments 0 Comment
Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine & the Diaspora (edited by Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Olha Brylova, and Iryna Pasko; Atthis; Arts Indie Publishing, TBD). Cover Illustrator, Taras Kopansky

Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora

Here is a wild effort to crowdfund a fantastic fiction loaded with meaning. This post consolidates a few press releases with the hope that readers will follow along.

In the early months of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, writers internationally looked for a way to help raise awareness and funds for humanitarian efforts. Through network and word of mouth, and several transfers of leadership and scope, a more comprehensive project developed. Now, with a primary focus on bringing Ukrainian storytelling to broader global audiences, they hope this book will raise awareness of Ukrainian culture, pride, and literature — and will encourage people to contribute to Ukrainian humanitarian and artistic causes alike.

…

Read More Read More

Future Treasures: Cave 13 by Jonathan Maberry

Future Treasures: Cave 13 by Jonathan Maberry

Comments 1 comment


Cave 13 (St. Martin’s Griffin, August 29, 2023). Cover design by Rob Grom

Brandon Crilly introduced me to Jonathan Maberry’s Joe Ledger novels, with his enthusiastic review of the ninth volume in the series Dogs of War in 2017.

This series is about way more than its main protagonist, Joe Ledger, and is filled with a host of deeply-imagined heroes and villains… Every Joe Ledger novel features some sort of established horror premise – like vampires, zombies, and even Cthulhu – and gives it a mad science twist…

But amid the nonstop, Die Hard-esque action that inevitably occurs, there remains that core character development, which continues from several books previous, as Joe Ledger’s allies struggle to remember who they are, why they fight, and why they can win, no matter what odds they face. And with a touch akin to J.J. Abrams, Maberry slowly reveals some key mysteries that go back to the beginning of the series and which, I hope, will be continue to be explored in an eventual tenth book.

The latest installment Cave 13, published in trade paperback next week by St. Martin’s Griffin, is the third volume of spin-off series Rogue Team International, in which detective Joe Ledger leads a team of elite specialists to deal with global threats.

…

Read More Read More

Future Treasures: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

Future Treasures: Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas

Comments 1 comment

Vampires of El Norte (Berkley, August 15, 2023)

Isabel Cañas’ first short story, “The Weight of a Thousand Needles,” appeared in the June 2019 issue of John Joseph Adams’ Lightspeed magazine. Since then she’s published nearly a dozen stories in some of the top markets in the field, including Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Nightmare Magazine, Pseudopod, Fireside Magazine, Giganotosaurus, and many others. Her first novel The Hacienda, a gothic horror set in post-Independence War Mexico, was one of the most acclaimed horror debuts of last year, called “A thing of uncanny, chilling beauty, [with] hauntings, exorcisms, incantations, and forbidden love,” by The New York Times and “the perfect Gothic novel… a brilliant piece of historical fiction and a, ‘Okay, I’m gonna need to sleep with the lights on now,’ horror novel” by Jezebel.

Her sophomore effort Vampires of El Norte, due in hardcover from Berkley Books next week, is one of the most anticipated novels of the summer. Booklist labels it “a lush, supernaturally infused historical romance mixing vaqueros, vampires, and the Mexican-American conflict of 1846–48,” and Kirkus says “The vampires of this tale are incredibly original… There are three different narratives here: a love story, a war story, and a horror story. Each is compelling.”

…

Read More Read More

New Treasures: The Devoured Worlds by Megan E. O’Keefe

New Treasures: The Devoured Worlds by Megan E. O’Keefe

Comments 0 Comment


The Blighted Stars and The Fractured Dark (Orbit, May 23, 2023 and September 26, 2023). Covers by Jaime Jones

Megan E. O’Keefe, author of the The Protectorate trilogy (Velocity Weapon, Chaos Vector, Catalyst Gate) and The Scorched Continent novels (Steal the Sky, Break the Chains, and Inherit the Flame) has what looks like another hit on her hands with a popular new series. The first book, The Blighted Stars, arrived in May, and sequel The Fractured Dark is due in September.

I’m hearing a lot about the first book. It’s a space opera/romance with a fascinating premise (upload your consciousnesses into 3D-printed bodies), rich worldbuilding (a galaxy is ruled by wealthy families, a hunt for unspoiled “cradle worlds,” and a resistance group working to save them through guerrilla warfare), and great characters, including an idealistic resistance fighter stranded on a dead planet with the heir to the Mercator Dynasty.

But what fascinates me is the promise of creepy adventure on a dead planet, and The Blighted Stars sounds like it delivers.

…

Read More Read More

Future Treasures: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Future Treasures: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

Comments 0 Comment

The Saint of Bright Doors (Tor.com, July 11, 2023)

Vajra Chandrasekera is a Sri Lankan author who has published over 40 stories in many of the top genre markets, including Nightmare Magazine, Clarkesworld, Analog, PodCastle, Fireside Quarterly, and many others. His debut novel arrives in two weeks from Tor.com.

The Saint of Bright Doors is the tale of Fetter, raised as a child soldier by his mother in her war against his father. He learns to walk among devils and anti-gods, loses his shadow, and finally escapes to the big city, where divine destinies are a dime a dozen and the inhabitants are caught up by the mystical locked doorways that have appeared throughout the city. Max Gladstone calls it “A breathtaking achievement,” and Sam J. Miller says it “keeps on dropping bombs and surprises and brilliance and heartbreak to the very end.”

…

Read More Read More

Rogue Blades Entertainment presents Neither Beg Nor Yield!

Rogue Blades Entertainment presents Neither Beg Nor Yield!

Comments 1 comment

“This anthology is the winning epitome of my career whether another reader sees it or not.” – Jason M Waltz

Jason M Waltz is well known amongst adventure fiction readers, especially the Swords & Sorcery crowd. With his Rogue Blades Entertainment and associated Foundation, he’s brought us the epic Return of the Sword (BG review) and then Rage of the Behemoth, and Demons.  He’s edited/published a variety of other anthologies with themes of Weird Noir, Pirates, and Sword & Planet with Last Empire of Sol (BG review), and splendid nonfiction like Writing Fantasy Heroes (BG review) and recently Robert E. Howard Changed My Life (BG review). Jason M Waltz has contributed a number of Black Gate posts too (link). While I write this, Waltz just got a story published in Whetstone S&S Magazine #7 that caps the set with an emotive tale, both heroic and tragic.

Waltz is a wizard at crafting Introductions to anthologies (his and those published by others); they usually evoke a call to arms to be heroic. He consistently makes me feel like a hero just by reading the forewords.

Today he broadcasts exciting news. Prepare for another Sword and Sorcery extravaganza this fall called Neither Beg Nor Yield (NBNY)!  Jason M Walts calls for our aid to make this a reality via a Kickstarter campaign scheduled to run August 22 through Sept 19th. Sixteen authors are already engaged, and their identities are being revealed as teasers via various venues.

This post reveals 2 more of the 16 Vanguard Authors!

…

Read More Read More

Mission Impossible in Space: The Icarus Novels by Timothy Zahn

Mission Impossible in Space: The Icarus Novels by Timothy Zahn

Comments 2 comments


The Icarus Hunt (Bantam Spectra, August 1999) and The Icarus Plot
(Baen Books paperback reprint, June 27, 2023). Covers by Paul Youll and Dave Seeley

Timothy Zahn is one of my favorite short story writers. I read his early fiction, like the Hugo Award-winning novella “Cascade Point,” in the early 80s in Analog magazine, and in gaming mags like Ares and Fantasy Gamer. In 1983 I thoroughly enjoyed his debut novel The Blackcollar, the runner up for the Locus Award for Best First novel. In the following years he produced some major work, including the bestselling Star Wars novel Heir to the Empire and its sequels, the Cobra series, the Conquerors trilogy, and the popular Dragonback books.

In 1999 Zahn published The Icarus Hunt, the tale of a renegade space pilot named Jordan McKell, who ekes out a living at the edges of the iron-fisted regime of the Patthaaunutth, dabbling in interstellar smuggling for customers who represent the last vestiges of free trade in the galaxy. When McKell and his alien partner Ixil are hired to fly a strange ship named The Icarus and its special cargo to Earth, they soon find themselves caught up in events that could change the course of galactic history.

…

Read More Read More

Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

Lawrence Ellsworth’s Cinema of Swords Arrives Next Week

Comments 1 comment

Cinema of Swords by Lawrence Ellsworth (Applause, June 15, 2023)

Next Thursday is a big day in the Black Gate offices, as the most anticipated book of the year finally arrives: the hardcover edition of Lawrence Ellsworth’s monumental Cinema of Swords.

What’s in this great beast of a book? Every one of Lawrence’s informative and entertaining Cinema of Swords columns from Black Gate — Over four hundred movies and television shows featuring swashbucklers: knights, pirates, samurai, Vikings, gladiators, outlaw heroes like Zorro and Robin Hood, and anyone else who lives by the blade and solves their problems with the point of a sword — pus full-color stills, poster reproductions, a handy index (both Title and Subject), and plenty of fascinating sidebar articles by Lawrence, covering topics like The First British Invasion (50s swashbuckling TV series from ITV) to Wholesome Buccaneers (family-friendly pirate ) and Mighty Maciste (the roving strongman of two dozen films of the 60s-era post-Hercules peplum craze).

…

Read More Read More

Djinn, Disguises, and Dangerous Desert Quests: The Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah

Djinn, Disguises, and Dangerous Desert Quests: The Sandsea Trilogy by Chelsea Abdullah

Comments 0 Comment


The Stardust Thief and The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah (Orbit,
May 17, 2022 and February 20, 2024). Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio

Arabian fantasy with a true One Thousand and One Nights feel is rare these days, which is why we celebrate it when it comes along. And Chelsea Abdullah’s debut novel The Stardust Thief, opening volume in The Sandsea Trilogy, has indeed been celebrated, with a bevy of enthusiastic reviews.

The Stardust Thief is a rousing tale of adventure, featuring a young thief with a djinn bodyguard, midnight assassins, dangerous desert quests, ancient lamps, magical disguises, a cruel prince and his softhearted younger brother, the Forty Thieves, and much more. Kirkus Reviews calls it “a beautifully crafted adventure,” and the sequel, The Ashfire King, is already on the schedule for early next year. I bought copy of the first volume last weekend I’m looking forward to diving into it.

…

Read More Read More